MagAO Commissioning Day 3: The Shell Summits

Today we moved our Adaptive Secondary Mirror (ASM), including our 1.6 mm thick 85 cm wide fragile thin shell, up to the aux building between the telescopes. Needless to say, it was an exciting time.

The ASM is stored on a handling cart specifically designed for this tripThe entire trip was under the watchful gaze of Armando the ASM guruEmilio is paying out the come-along, a device used to make sure the ASM is always under controlHere the ASM is leaving the cleanroomMiguel operating the come-along

Here’s a video of the cart being pushed and pulled onto the truck:

The ASM on the truckAdvisor and student share some shadeLaird and Katie are attaching a cover to prevent the sun from reflecting off our shell and melting something/someoneHere is the ASM all strapped down, and just beginning its journey to the top

Laird held the ASM's hand all the way to the topThe MagAO ASM arriving at ClayThe come-along was used at the top too.The loading dock was specially adjusted to keep our shell safe

“It can be disconcerting at first, but you’ll get used to it” (Povilas Palunas)

“Sometimes I wonder who’s the student and who’s the director here.” (Laird Close)

For today’s operation we broke out the steel toes. There was some question about style vs. function. In the end, style won.A skeptical Alan tests Katie's safety shoes, which are somewhat pinker than the norm around here